Thursday, November 13, 2014

a name and a blessing

over labor day we were able to go to utah and introduce gwen to our families. i'll post more about our trip but i wanted to share some pictures of her blessing day!

things fell into place last minute and we were so excited we were able to bless gwen in utah. we had a little get together at my parents house. it was such a beautiful thing for me to see my sweet baby surrounded by her grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, great-aunts and great uncles, and good friends! i kept telling her it was thanks to everyone in that room (and many many others) who shared their love, faith and prayers to get her here.

picking a name for our sweet little girl was a difficult process. long before we knew gwen was coming i wanted to name our first baby girl gwendolyn after my great grandma.i never met my great grandma but growing up i always felt this special connection with her. there were things i would do or say and my mom and grandma would tell me i reminded them of grandma gwennie. grandma gwennie was just always someone so special to me.

when we found out we were having a girl i first thought "of course we'll name her gwendolyn". but for some reason i felt this insane pressure that i had to find the right name. that for some reason baby girl had a name i just had to figure it out. we weren't sure if that name was gwendolyn. so spence and i went back to the drawing board and started going through names.

we struggled for a long time. we couldn't decide on a name. once we got really close and both fell in love with a name. but after a few weeks we both realized it wasn't the name for this baby girl (maybe another one down the road...it was one of the only names we could agree on haha). so we decided to make a new list.

after both making lists of about 30 names the only name we were really excited about, could agree on and just loved was gwendolyn elizabeth. gwendolyn for my great grandma and elizabeth for spencers great grandma. we loved having two beautiful family names for our little girl. both of these incredible women were happy, kind, loving, strong and beautiful. this is what we wanted for our baby girl.

so on a beautiful late summer day, surrounded by some of the faithful, loving and strong men in gwennies life her sweet dad gave her a name and a blessing. i am so grateful for my sweet husband and his worthiness to bless our daughter. it was a moment had dreamed about for a long time.

i am so grateful for my sweet baby girl. for the beautiful light she brings to our lives and her sweet spirit. i love watching her grow a little each day and only find my love for her grows as well!


one of my most favorite pictures of my little family! this is usually what we do all day...just smile at our sweet baby girl. thanks laura for taking these amazing pictures!











gwen was blessed in the same dress i was blessed in. it was made by my grandma 26 years ago! her beautiful blanket was handmade by my sweet mother while gwen was in the nicu.







gwen and her great grandma. she was named after this sweet lady's mother. i love to hear my grandma tell my daughter stories of the first gwendolyn (or gwennie). i hope my gwennie takes after her great great grandmother...i've heard she was pretty amazing!

2 comments:

  1. Do you have photos of your great grandma? It would be neat to see them. That blanket your mom made is beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Such gorgeous pictures and such a sweet name! Can't wait to meet baby Gwen!

    ReplyDelete

love notes